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Fitchburg strip club The Other Side demolished to cheers, but naked truth is that owner plans a new venue

By Alana Melanson, amelanson@sentinelandenterprise.com

Updated:
05/01/2012 01:27:24 PM EDT

FITCHBURG -- The Other Side, the city's former strip club, was torn down Monday, with various folks driving by cheering on its demolition, according to workers from Bourgeois Wrecking & Excavation of Westminster.

Other Side owner Thomas Tramontozzi is planning to build a new club there, however, this time a multipurpose venue, he said late Monday afternoon, though he did not want to reveal its specific uses. He hopes to have the new business, the name of which has yet to be decided, open by spring of next year.

"We're tearing it down and starting over fresh," Tramontozzi said.

He said he knew the building was going to have to come down after a February 2011 incident in which an intruder apparently entered an excavator owned by Tramontozzi that had been on the property and drove it into the back of the building. The incident caused $17,000 worth of damage to the backhoe and destroyed the structural integrity of the building, he said.

"I had no content insurance and minimal building insurance," Tramontozzi said. "I've been battling with the insurance company trying to get something."

He said police later recovered some items from the club that had allegedly been stolen by a few Fitchburg State University students, but that it couldn't be proven that any of them had operated the excavator. Much of the building's copper and other items also went to scavengers, he said.

There have also been some apparent misunderstandings or miscommunications regarding the demolition permit from the city.

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Building Commissioner Robert Lanciani said early Monday afternoon that no application for a permit had been filed, which could have potentially led to fines or even a cease-and-desist order. He said he was informed of the demolition after Inspector Bentley Herget had noticed the work being performed early Monday afternoon and called the office to determine whether there was a permit in place.

Herget was not available for comment Monday.

Crews demolish The Other Side on Water Street in Fitchburg. (SENTINEL & ENTERPRISE / JOHN LOVE)

Ray Bourgeois III, general manager of Bourgeois Wrecking & Excavation, said an inspector did come by the site while he and another employee were working and asked about the permit. He supplied a City Hall receipt dated April 30, a document he also shared with the Sentinel & Enterprise. He said he asked the inspector if they should cease working until the actual permit would be issued today, but was told it was fine to continue.

"If it was a big deal, he would've told us to stop working," Bourgeois said Monday evening.

Tramontozzi said he hired Bourgeois Wrecking & Excavation because the company also takes care of the permitting process in addition to its other services.

According to company owner Ray Bourgeois Jr., it's a common practice to start a demolition on the same day the permit is paid for, even though the official permit is often not available until the following day.

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